Tuesday, February 28, 2012

New paper finds climate of northeastern US is highly sensitive to solar activity

A paper published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters examines climate proxies over the past 6800 years and finds that the hydroclimate (droughts & floods) of the Northeastern U.S. is "highly sensitive" to solar activity ("solar forcing"). The paper states, "The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale." No doubt, the IPCC will ignore this paper and many others demonstrating the importance of solar activity upon climate change.

Top graph shows proxy of wet/dry conditions; the higher the Great Heath SVR, the wetter the conditions. Bottom two graphs show proxies of solar activity.

Dramatic hydrological fluctuations strongly impact human society, but the driving mechanisms for these changes are unclear. One suggested driver is solar variability, but supporting paleoclimate evidence is lacking. Therefore, long, continuous, high-resolution records from strategic locations are crucial for resolving the scientific debate regarding sensitivity of climate to solar forcing. We present a 6800–year, decadally-resolved biomarker and multidecadally-resolved hydrogen isotope record of hydroclimate from a coastal Maine peatland, The Great Heath (TGH). Regional moisture balance responds strongly and consistently to solar forcing at centennial to millennial timescales, with solar minima concurrent with wet conditions. We propose that the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation (AO/NAO) can amplify small solar fluctuations, producing the reconstructed hydrological variations. The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale.